The 30th Space Wing at Vandenberg AFB, Calif., successfully launched a Boeing Delta IV Medium rocket, boosting a Defense Meteorological Satellite Program satellite into orbit early Friday morning. Liftoff took place at 5:53 a.m. PST, with the DMSP-17 spacecraft deployed 18 minutes later, states a Boeing news release. The launch was the third for Boeing’s Medium configuration of the Delta IV evolved expendable launch vehicle.
The Pentagon could have the option to create a new combatant command devoted to unmanned and autonomous systems if a provision in the Senate Armed Services Committee’s annual defense policy bill becomes law. The legislation is one of several moves lawmakers have proposed in recent weeks to both bound and…